Ergosterol and its analogues contained in Ganoderma had multiple pharmacological effects such as anti-HIV-1 [7], anti-complement [8], anti-aging [9] activities, and protecting cerebral cortical neurons from hypoxia/reoxygenation injury [18].
Rhazya stricta Decsne (Apocynaceae family), a traditional herbal medicinal plant from Western and South Asia, has been shown to have multiple pharmacological effects due to the presence of over 100 alkaloids [1 3].
Through summarizing the data accumulated so far, we show here that a variety of anti-AD agents indeed have been identified from foods, most of which hold multiple pharmacological effects.
The minor ginsenosides have been demonstrated to possess multiple pharmacological effects, such as anticarcinogenic (Park et al. 2005), immunomodulatory (Liu et al. 2014), anti-inflammatory (Park et al. 2012; Lee and Lau 2011), antiatherosclerotic (Park et al. 2005), antihypertensive (Christensen 2008), antigenotoxic (Lee et al. 1998), and antidiabetic properties (Li et al. 2012).
The multiple pharmacological effects of Baizhi root extracts include antioxidation (Piao et al. 2004), anti-inflammatory (Pervin et al. 2014), antiproliferative (Yousif et al. 1999), skin whitening (Cho et al. 2006), anti-tumor (Kim et al. 2007), antimicrobial (Kwon et al. 1997) and anti-Alzheimer effects (Marumoto and Miyazawa 2010).
Sanguinarine exhibits multiple pharmacological effects, including remarkable antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties [3], [4], and is a potential lead compound in cancer therapy inducing apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells through different mechanisms [5] [11].
Capsaicin is the active component of chili peppers and has multiple pharmacological and physiological effects, including analgesic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-obesity effects; moreover, it promotes the rapid elimination of toxins and fats generated in the body [5, 10].
Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer is a widely used medicinal plant with multiple clinical and pharmacological effects related to cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The benefits of this approach included not having to use multiple pharmacological agents/antibodies whose effects would require titrating to concentration (likely in a non-linear manner), and not being subject to non-physiological interactions or inducing global changes unrelated to the system of interest.
Previous studies demonstrated that the compounds exerts multiple biological functions and pharmacological effects such as anti-inflammatory effect of liquritin [ 28], and antioxidant effect of glycyrrhizin [ 29] and antiallergy effect of baicalin [ 30].
Alantolactone, a sesquiterpene lactone component of Inula helenium and Inula racemosa, has been shown to exhibit multiple pharmacological activities including anticancer effect [ 13, 14].
